264
AXUS74 KLUB 261939
DGTLUB
TXC017-045-069-075-079-101-107-125-153-169-189-191-219-263-269-
279-303-305-345-369-433-437-445-501-311745-
DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
140 PM CST THU FEB 26 2015
...DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PANHANDLE AND
ROLLING PLAINS...
SYNOPSIS...
ALTHOUGH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES DURING
FEBRUARY...CONDITIONS WERE RELATIVELY MOIST. A FEW ROUNDS OF EVENLY
SPACED LIGHT WINTRY PRECIPITATION CONTRIBUTED TO THESE MOIST
CONDITIONS. THESE LIGHT PRECIPITATION EVENTS WERE ALSO INTERSPERSED
WITH LARGE SWINGS IN TEMPERATURES. DROUGHT CONDITIONS LARGELY
REMAINED UNCHANGED AGAIN THROUGH THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY. MOST AREAS
OF CHILDRESS AND COTTLE COUNTIES REMAINED IN SEVERE TO EXTREME
DROUGHT. A SMALL PORTION OF THE EASTERN PART OF THESE COUNTIES WERE
IN EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
.AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS. WINTER WHEAT...PASTURES..AND RANGELANDS HAVE
BEEN REPORTED IN FAIR TO GOOD CONDITION WITH THE ADDITIONAL MOISTURE
AND PERIODS OF WARMER WEATHER ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS WITH SHORT TO
ADEQUATE SOIL MOISTURE. CATTLE IN THE SOUTH PLAINS WERE IN GOOD
CONDITION AND FAIR ACROSS THE ROLLING PLAINS THOUGH LIVESTOCK STRESS
HAS BEEN NOTED WITH THE STRONG TEMPERATURE SWINGS OF THE PAST FEW
WEEKS. IN THE ROLLING PLAINS...TOPSOIL WAS IN DECENT SHAPE BUT SUB-
SOIL MOISTURE WAS SPOTTY RANGING FROM VERY DRY TO VERY WET.
.FIRE WEATHER IMPACTS. FEBRUARY IS TRADITIONALLY A CLIMATOLOGICAL
RESPITE FROM FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS. LARGE EXPANSES OF TALL GRASS
REMAINED ON CRP FOR AREAS ON THE WEST OF THE CAPROCK ESCARPMENT
WHILE ABOVE NORMAL FINE FUELS ALSO WERE COMMON FOR PARTS OF THE
ROLLING PLAINS AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE. ENERGY RELEASE
COMPONENT VALUES ARE CURRENTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR
THANKS TO INCREASED COOL SEASON MOISTURE AND COOLER TEMPERATURES
THOUGH EXCURSIONS TO NEAR NORMAL ERC HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PAST MONTH
DURING WARM SPELLS. LAND MANAGERS SHOULD REMAIN DILIGENT DURING ANY
PERIOD OF WARM AND DRY WEATHER...EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT BREEZY/WINDY
CONDITIONS. WE ARE NOW AT THE CLIMATOLOGICAL START OF THE WIND STORM
SEASON IN WEST TEXAS THOUGH SOME DELAY IN ONSET APPEARS LIKELY.
BURN BANS ARE IN PLACE FOR CASTRO... LAMB... COCHRAN... YOAKUM...
GARZA... DICKENS... AND KING COUNTIES.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY WAS CHARACTERIZED BY CONSIDERABLE FLUCTUATIONS
IN TEMPERATURES RESULTING IN BOTH RECORD MAXIMUM AND LOWEST MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURES. A HIGHLY AMPLIFIED WEATHER PATTERN OVER NORTH AMERICA
DUE TO A WEAKER POLAR VORTEX ALLOWED ARCTIC AIR TO ENCOMPASS THE
EASTERN HALF OF THE CONUS. THIS ARCTIC AIR WOULD INTERMITTENTLY MAKE
ITS WAY INTO WEST TEXAS AFTER VERY WARM PERIODS. BECAUSE OF THE WIDE
RANGE IN TEMPERATURES...MEAN TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH WERE NEAR
SEASONAL AVERAGES.
ACCOMPANYING THE ARCTIC AIR INTRUSIONS WERE LIGHT PRECIPITATION
EVENTS. THE MOST IMPACTING EVENT OCCURRED FROM THE 22ND THROUGH THE
23RD. PRECIPITATION WAS GENERALLY LIGHT FOR MUCH OF THE EVENT BUT
INCLUDED THE ENTIRE REGION. MOST AREAS ONLY SAW UP TO ONE INCH OF
SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS BUT DID BRING SEVERAL DAYS OF COLD AND
MOIST CONDITIONS. ALTHOUGH ALL AREAS SAW BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS...AREAS EAST OF THE CAPROCK ESCARPMENT CONTINUED TO FARE
WORSE THAN AREAS ON THE CAPROCK.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
FEBRUARY WILL END WET AND COLD WITH TEMPERATURES AVERAGING 20
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION WILL BE MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF
SNOW. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL VARY ACROSS THE REGION AND WILL RANGE FROM
AROUND 1 INCH IN THE SOUTHWESTERN SOUTH PLAINS TO NEAR 4 INCHES IN
THE SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. DESPITE THE EXPECTED PRECIPITATION
THE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY WILL BE
ONE HALF INCH TO ONE INCH BELOW NORMAL. TEMPERATURES FOR THE FIRST 2
WEEKS OF MARCH ARE EXPECTED TO BE BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION IS
EXPECTED TO BE NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL. TEMPERATURES FOR THE SECOND
HALF OF MARCH LOOK TO BE NEAR NORMAL. PRECIPITATION LOOKS TO BE NEAR
NORMAL AS WELL FOR MOST OF THE REGION WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE
SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE AND WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS WHERE ABOVE
NORMAL PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE LONGTERM OUTLOOK THROUGH
MAY SHOWS THE POSSIBILITY FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH ABOVE
NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
RESERVOIR LEVELS WERE DOWN BETWEEN 0.1 AND 0.2 FEET OVER THE PAST
MONTH.
THE FOLLOWING RESERVOIR CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED FEBRUARY 26TH:
RESERVOIR SUMMARY CONSERVATION POOL 5-WEEK MAXIMUM PERCENT OF
POOL TODAY CHANGE DEPTH CONSERVATION
(FEET) CAPACITY
MACKENZIE LAKE 3100 3009.4 0.02 59 7 0.08
WHITE RIVER LAKE 2370 2342.8 0.02 16 4 0.00
LAKE ALAN HENRY 2220 2210.1 -0.02 67 74 0.00
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON MARCH 26TH OR
SOONER IF NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS.
&&
RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT
CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER
CASE LETTERS/...
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR: HTTP://WWW.DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE: HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV
OFFICE OF THE TEXAS STATE CLIMATOLOGIST:
HTTP://WWW.CLIMATETEXAS.TAMU.EDU
NWS PRECIPITATION: HTTP://WWW.WATER.WEATHER.GOV/PRECIP
USGS: HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/
USACE: HTTP://WWW.MVR.USACE.ARMY.MIL
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER /CPC/: HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV
USDA: HTTP://WWW.USDA.GOV/OCE/WEATHER
TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION AGENCY CROP ADN WEATHER REPORT:
HTTP://TODAY.AGRILIFE.ORG
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT
INVOLVING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA
CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE
NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT
HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...THE TEXAS
TECH/WEST TEXAS MESONET...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...
THE USDA...USACE AND USGS.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT
THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 2579 S LOOP 289 SUITE 100 LUBBOCK TX 79423
PHONE...806-745-4926 LUB.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
$$